Congressional Voting and American Elections: Postponing Federal Elections and the COVID-19 Pandemic Legal Considerations, Examining House Voting Options, Voting Rights and Election Administration

Three Congressional reports have been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction: Postponing Federal Elections and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Legal Considerations; Examining Voting Options During the COVID-19 Pandemic; and Voting Rights and Election Administration in America.

The first document reviews the legal provisions that would constrain any efforts to delay or cancel federal elections during a public health crisis or other national emergency. The first part reviews laws pertaining to presidential elections, and the second part reviews laws relevant to congressional elections.

The second report looks at voting options for the House of Representatives during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering vital topics such as remote voting, proxy voting on the floor, enhanced unanimous consent, and other potential rule changes. Issues involving post 9/11 actions by the Rules Committee on the continuity of Congress are discussed.

Finally, the third document covers the hearing before the House Subcommittee on Elections on Voting Rights and Election Administration, October 2019. Chairwoman Marcia L. Fudge stated:

We have heard testimony about how polling place closures, consolidations, and movements cause confusion for voters and lead to long lines and wait times that are unacceptable for the integrity of our democracy; how restrictions and cutbacks to early voting disenfranchises voters, especially those with limited transportation options or inflexible work hours; strict voter ID requirements that can be overly burdensome on the poor and minority voters and create a modern day poll tax. Discriminatory voter-purge practices can disproportionately impact otherwise eligible minority voters. Denying the right to vote to nearly 6 million formerly incarcerated individuals fundamentally undermines our democracy and continues to deny citizens their constitutional right. How Native American communities have faced more than 200 years of discrimination, disenfranchisement, and voter suppression, which continues to this day, and is exacerbated when Tribes are not consulted when States and the Federal Government craft voting laws. The lack of adequate access to properly translated materials and language assistance at the polls disenfranchises protected voters. And how litigation under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, remains a critical tool for protecting the franchise but is not an adequate remedy to enforce such a fundamental right.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.